Saturday, September 25, 2010

Several union leaders and activists organizing a nationwide strike of garment factory workers in Cambodia are at risk of arrest and legal action. The five day national strike which involved 200,000 workers was called by a coalition of garment industry unions in protest at a new minimum wage set for the garment and footwear industry.

Last week, the Prime Minister authorized the police and local authorities to begin unspecified legal action against strike leaders. The courts are reported to have warrants ready for the arrest of nine individuals for incitement. Although the strike was temporarily suspended on 16 September following an offer of further negotiations, it is feared that the threat of legal action remains.

If you own a smartphone or handheld computer, you may be familiar with the concept of 'apps'. Are unions creating apps specifically designed for these devices? Should they? To learn more, please listen to my latest podcast on Labour and Technology.

The newly relaunched version of UnionBook is growing very quickly. Have you signed up yet? UnionBook now has 93 active groups and if you can't find one that interests you, start one! Sign up today and tell your fellow union members to join you there.

UnionJobs

Many of you will be familiar with UnionJobs.com -- an excellent website where people can find jobs in trade unions. Recently, another site has appeared claiming to do the same thing -- but is ripping off content and even directing people to non-union sites. Be warned -- and read more here.

Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee

Check out our home page for breaking labour news from around the world. All our current active campaigns are here -- make sure you've signed up to all of them.

Several union leaders and activists organizing a nationwide strike ofgarment factory workers in Cambodia are at risk of arrest and legalaction. The five day national strike which involved 200,000 workerswas called by a coalition of garment industry unions in protest at anew minimum wage set for the garment and footwear industry.

Last week, the Prime Minister authorized the police and localauthorities to begin unspecified legal action against strike leaders.The courts are reported to have warrants ready for the arrest of nineindividuals for incitement. Although the strike was temporarilysuspended on 16 September following an offer of further negotiations,it is feared that the threat of legal action remains.

If you own a smartphone or handheld computer, you may be familiarwith the concept of 'apps'. Are unions creating apps specificallydesigned for these devices? Should they? To learn more, please listento my latest podcast<http://media.libsyn.com/media/ericlee/podcast20100924.mp3>on Labour and Technology.

The newly relaunched version of UnionBook <http://www.unionbook.org> is growing very quickly. Have you signed up yet? UnionBook now has93 active groups <http://www.unionbook.org/groups> and if you can't find one that interests you, start one! Sign uptoday and tell your fellow union members to join you there.

UnionJobs

Many of you will be familiar with UnionJobs.com -- an excellentwebsite where people can find jobs in trade unions. Recently, anothersite has appeared claiming to do the same thing -- but is ripping offcontent and even directing people to non-union sites. Be warned --and read more here<http://www.unionbook.org/profiles/blogs/this-is-a-scandal>.